It happened a lot later than most thought it would. Saturday Night Live has let go of two of its funniest cast members and a first year featured player. It was reported late last night that both Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah were not brought back for another season of the sketch series. BUt the most interesting thing about it was that their contracts were not completely up. Both men had at least one more year to go, leaving with six out of their seven years finished. /Film speculates that the releases may be because the two of them were so busy. After all, Killam is directing an action comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger -- a movie that will be produced by SNL head man Lorne Michaels. Killam had an interview with Uproxx stating that the release caught him off guard but he'd already communicated that his movie production scuedule would coincide with SNL's schedule:

I don’t know the other side of it. You sign for seven years, so I had one more year. I had sort of had it in my head I would make this upcoming year my last year, but then heard they weren’t going to pick up my contract. I was never given a reason why, really. I can assume until the cows come home. 

There's no clear answer on why Pharoah was let go. He's a touring comedian and featured actor on movies but he's not that big. No matter the case, his stable of characters and impressions will be missed. And finally, featured player Jon Rudnitsky was announced to not returning either. He didn't really stand out last season and you'd be forgiven to forget he was on the cast. But at least he can say that he was there.